Well my interest in WW2 helmets has now lead me to the USA
WW2 Paratrooper Helmet. So I thought since I'm going to restore
and replicate some of them, I might as well place some of
the details on my site! You wont get the full 'trade secrets'
but you'll get the idea how to do it! From a standard M1 WW2
helmet I want to recreate a WWII M1C Swivel Bail Paratrooper
Helmet. The helmet I have chosen has seen better days and
has been rotting away outside for years. I want to restore
it to its former glory and enhance it by converting to a M1C
paratrooper helmet!

Purchase your inexpensive WW2 M1 Helmet shell. These can
be found on many common online auction sites for approx. £20
plus, depending on quality. All American WW2 Helmets were
the same size so it doesn't matter what one you purchase.
The cheaper versions are swivel bail and very rusted, while
the expensive ones are fixed bail, front seam and in very
good condition.

It doesn't matter about rust or dents, these can generally
be removed or fixed to an acceptable standard.Here is a picture
of one in its original state.

Pic 1 - Genuine M1 USA WW2 Helmet
- Shell

Pic 2 - Genuine M1 USA WW2 Helmet
- Inside Shell

If the shell is rusted you need to sand down the inside and
outside by hand. If you can use a power tool so much the better
but I have found that manual efforts give the best finish! In
the case of most helmets you don't need to treat light rusting.
In this case its pretty heavy rusting so ideally treat with
a rust inhibitor. See the two pictures below.

Pic 3 - Genuine M1 USA WW2 Helmet
- Shell Rust Removed

Pic 4 - Genuine M1 USA WW2 Helmet
- Inside Shell Rust Removed

After treating the helmet you need to fill in any rusted holes.
You can do this with either a welding device or standard car
metal filler. Don't use household plaster filler as I have seen
on some helmets! It falls out even after medium strength handling.
You then need to either grind or hand sand the filled holes.
Pic 5 below shows the result of filling and sanding.

Pic 5 - Genuine M1 USA WW2 Helmet
- Holes filled & sanded down

Once you have filled & sanded the holes you can then
apply the cork. I'm afraid this is one trade secret I can't
pass on. Suffice to say that is not hard to do if you are
good at crafts or DIY! Once applied, you can paint both the
inside and outside. I use USA Olive Drab, a very close match
to originals, if not identical! I use a UK supplier but of
course you can get this in many parts of the world.

You will notice I have not filled in the deep pitted holes
on the inside - see Pic 6 below. There is one reason for this,
I like to leave something original about the helmet and leaving
the inside like this helps to confirm its original history.
Most of my clients are very happy with this approach. You
can of course fill any deep holes in the same way as the outer
holes.

Pic 6 - Genuine M1 USA WW2 Helmet
- Inside Painted

Once the helmet has been corked and painted again, you
then need to decide what M1 helmet you are going to replicate.
Since this was one of my first and certainly the most rusted
helmet I have received to date I have decide to make this
one one of the 'Kings' of helmets.

I'm not going to say what it is, I'll leave that to the end,
but suffice to say it will be a WW2 M1C Paratrooper helmet.
So once decided on the unit of choice its time to paint it
up if necessary. This helmet was painted in this scheme in
1943 and remained this way till it ended up in a collection.
It is now in a museum. I have tried to replicate the camouflage
pattern to the original helmet, looking at the picture below
some of the Airborne enthusiasts will start to recognise this
helmet.

This is the paint 'hot off the press' - it was still wet
when I took the photograph, there is lots of ageing and replicating
still to do! See Pic 7 below.

Pic 7- Genuine M1 USA WW2 Helmet
- Inside Painted

The helmet has been painted very roughly in the scheme
required, now you need to tighten up the painting and apply
the decals. Before you do this it is a good idea to age the
helmet as this can often obliterate the decals and markings!
I'm not going to tell you how to age the helmet, suffice to
say it does take time and patience to ensure it looks looks
original!

Have a look at Pic 8 below, it is in its first stages of
ageing and the decals have been applied. Now this helmet is
trying to recreate an original helmet in both first glance
and close up, so the camouflage needs to be spot on. Notice
how it has changed from Pic 7. Also notice how the stars are
un-aged!

Pic 8 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Outer Aged & Decals applied

So I'm wondering if anyone has guessed who this helmet belonged
to? I think the stars should narrow it down a bit! Pic 9 below
is a rear view and again the officers strip is un-aged.

Pic 9 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Outer Aged & Decals applied

Notice how the strip is not perfect, it has wear points across
its outline and edges. This is because the original helmet had
this. It is easier to do this now before ageing the strip. This
helmet is a straight replica of a famous Airborne helmet and
this every details need to be as close to the original as possible!
Pic 10 below shows another shot of the front decals.

The pictures below now shows the helmet shell finished and
aged. Notice how the stars are now darker and worn looking as
is the officers stripe at the rear.

Pic 11 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Front Decals aged

Pic 12 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Officers Stripe Aged

Now that the shell ageing is complete it is time to move onto
the liner. The liner is a composite post WW2 liner which has
been converted to a M1C liner. Notice in the two pictures below
I have aged the markings less as these would not have been exposed
to general wear and tear as much as the shell.

Pic 13 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Liner & Stars

Pic 14 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Liner & Officers Stripe

Following on from the outer M1-C outer liner the inner liner
has been fully fitted out with Paratrooper chin strap, leather
chin strap and leather 'A' frame webbing a Paratrooper chin
cup. Notice how all of this has been aged. If you are lucky
enough to see the original of this helmet you will notice how
I have recreated the worn folds of the chamois leather chin
cup insert!

Pic 15 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Fitted out liner

Notice the wear to the buckles, chin strap, leather and the
webbing material. There is a long mark on the chin strap, this
is identical to the original helmet!

Pic 16 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Fitted out liner

The chamois is well used and folded back due to its age. Remember,
this helmet is 60+ years old. Again, the folds recreate the
original helmet. For the observant people out there you will
notice a hand painted name on the rear of the liner. If you
know your airborne history, you should now know who this helmet
belonged to!

Pic 16 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Fitted out liner

So that's about it! the two pictures below are close ups showing
the detail of the helmet. I hope that you have enjoyed reading
this transformation story from rusted out shell to M1C Airborne
helmet worn by General Matthew Ridgway in WW2 and Korea. He
had this helmet painted for the Italian campaign in 1943 and
did not change it and it remained this way throughout his military
career.

Pic 17 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Officers Stripe

Pic 18 - Genuine M1C USA WW2 Helmet
- Generals Stars

The Story of General Ridgway :

Pic 19 - General Ridgway

In August 1942, Ridgway was promoted to major general
and was given command of the 82nd Airborne Division, upon
Omar N. Bradley's assignment to the 28th Infantry Division.
The division was selected to become one of the army's five
airborne divisions, based in no small part on Ridgway 's skill
as a trainer, and flexibility of thinking compared to his
peers. At that time, the airborne division concept was an
experiment for the US Army.

Ridgway helped plan the airborne invasion of Sicily in July
1943, and commanded the 82nd in combat there. During the planning
for the invasion of the Italian mainland, the 82nd was tasked
with taking Rome by coup-de-main in Operation Giant II. Ridgway
strongly objected to this unrealistic plan, which would have
dropped the 82nd on the outskirts of Rome in the midst of
two German heavy divisions. The operation was cancelled only
hours before launch.

In 1944, Ridgway helped plan the airborne operations on
Operation Overlord. In the Normandy operations, he jumped
with his troops, who fought for 33 days in advancing to St-Sauveur
near Cherbourg (St Sauveur le Vicomte, in the middle of the
Cotentin Peninsula, was liberated on June 14th 1944). In September
of 1944, Ridgway was given the command of the XVIII Airborne
Corps and led his troops into Germany. In June 1945 he was
promoted to lieutenant general. He jumped with the 17th Airborne
Division in Operation Varsity and was wounded in the shoulder
by German grenade fragments on March 24, 1945. At war's end,
Ridgway was on a plane headed for a new assignment in the
Pacific theater, under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur,
with whom he had served while a captain at the United States
Military Academy at West Point.

He was a command at Luzon for some time in 1945, before being
given command of the US forces in the Mediterranean Theater,
also gaining the title of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander,
Mediterranean. From 1946 to 1948, he served as the U.S. Army
representative on the military staff committee of the United
Nations. He was given command of Caribbean Command, controlling
U.S. forces in the Caribbean, in 1948, and in 1949 was assigned
to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff for administration
under Army Chief of Staff General J. Lawton Collins.

Ridgway 's most important command assignment occurred in
1950, upon the death of Lieutenant General Walton Walker.
Upon Walker's death, he received command of the 8th US Army,
which had been deployed in South Korea upon the invasion of
North Korea in June of that year. At the time Ridgway was
serving on the Army staff in the Pentagon as deputy chief
of staff for operations and administration, yet he was knowledgeable
about conditions in Korea and the Far East, and had a strong
and dynamic personality. Both proved invaluable for the task
ahead. When Ridgway took command, the army was still in a
tactical retreat, after a strong foray into North Korea had
been met with an unexpected and overwhelming Communist Chinese
advance. Ridgway 's success in turning Eighth Army’s
morale around, using little more than a magnetic personality
and bold leadership, is still a model for the Army for how
the power of leadership can dramatically change a situation.

Perhaps another reason he was chosen was because Ridgway
was not fazed by the Olympian demeanor of General Douglas
MacArthur, then overall commander of UN forces in Korea. MacArthur
in turn gave Ridgway a latitude in operations he had not
given his predecessor. After Ridgway landed in Tokyo on Christmas
Day 1950 to discuss the operational situation with MacArthur,
the latter assured his new commander that the actions of Eighth
Army were his to conduct as he saw fit. Ridgway was encouraged
to retire to successive defensive positions, as was currently
under way, and hold Seoul as long as he could, but not if
it meant that Eighth Army would be isolated in an enclave
around the city. In a foreshadowing of his aggressive nature,
Ridgway asked specifically that if he found the combat situation
"to my liking" whether MacArthur would have any
objection to "my attacking"? MacArthur answered,
"Eighth Army is yours, Matt. Do what you think best."

Upon taking control of the battered Eighth Army, one of Ridgway 's
first acts was to restore soldiers' confidence in themselves.
To accomplish this he aggressively went about finding other
leaders in Eighth Army who were not defeatist or defensive
oriented, despite the hard knocks of November and December,
and put them in charge. He was quick to reward commanders
who shared his sentiments, and just as quick to relieve those
officers at any level who did not. For example, during one
of his first briefings in Korea at I Corps, Ridgway sat through
an extensive discussion of various defensive plans and contingencies.
At the end he asked the startled staff where their attack
plans were. The corps G–3 (operations officer) responded
that he had no such plans. Within days I Corps had a new G-3
and the message went out: Ridgway was interested in taking
the offensive. In furtherance of this goal, he established
a plan to rotate out those division commanders who had been
in action for six difficult months, and replace them with
fresh leaders who would be more interested in attack and less
in defense. He also sent out guidance to commanders at all
levels that they were to spend more time at the front lines
and less in their command posts in the rear. The men had to
see their commanders if they were to have confidence that
they had not been forgotten. All these positive leadership
steps had a dramatic effect almost from the first. Eighth
Army was in Korea to stay.

Still, with the entry of China, the makeup of the Korean
War had changed. Political leaders, in an attempt to prevent
expansion of the war, would not allow UN forces to bomb the
supply bases of the Chinese Army that were in China, nor the
bridges across the Yalu river. Thus the American Army had
to move from being always aggressive, to fighting protective,
delaying actions until the supply lines of China had been
extended enough to allow equilibrium. Under Ridgway 's leadership,
the Chinese offensive was slowed and finally brought to a
halt at the battles of Chipyong-ni and Wonju. He then led
his troops in a subsequent counter-offensive in the spring
of 1951.

When General Douglas MacArthur was relieved of command by
President Harry Truman in April, Ridgway was promoted to
full general, assuming command of United Nations forces in
Korea. As commanding general in Korea, Ridgway gained the
nickname, "Old Iron Tits," for his habit of wearing
hand grenades attached to his load-bearing equipment at chest
level. {Photographs however show he only wore one grenade
on one side of his chest; the so-called "grenade"
on the other side was in fact a first-aid packet}.

Military historians generally credit Ridgway with leadership
that helped restore the Eighth Army as an aggressive fighting
force, allowing it combat the overwhelming masses of troops
from the People's Republic of China to a standstill, and eventually
driving them out of South Korea across the 38th parallel.[citation
needed] Ridgway 's personal example, as well as his thorough
knowledge of basic military operational principles, set a
leadership standard few in US Army history could match.

In May 1952, Ridgway replaced General Dwight D. Eisenhower
as the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). However,
he upset other European military leaders by surrounding himself
with American staff, and returned to the U.S. to replace General
Collins as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. President
Eisenhower asked for his assessment of US military involvement
in Vietnam in conjunction with the French. In response, Ridgway
prepared a comprehensive outline of the massive commitment
that would be necessary, which dissuaded the President from
intervening. However, the experience sorely tested the relationship
Ridgway had enjoyed during World War II with Eisenhower,
who wanted to intervene, and he retired from the US Army in
1955, succeeded in the Chief of Staff post by his one time
82nd Airborne Division Chief of Staff Maxwell D. Taylor. In
the opinion of a number of military historians, Ridgway 's
stand as Chief of Staff delayed US intervention in Vietnam
for around ten years.

Ridgway had been forced to retire earlier than he planned,
but he was secure in the belief he had served his nation to
the best of his ability. The year after his retirement, he
published his autobiography, Soldier: The Memoirs of Matthew
B. Ridgway

Ridgway 's success in the military was not matched by success
in his personal life. He married three times. For a while,
he held the position of chairman of the board of trustees
of the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. According
to his friends and colleagues, Ridgway was never the same
after his son died in a camping accident in 1971, becoming
increasingly depressed and morose. On 5 May 1985 he was a
key player in the controversial Ronald Reagan visit to Kolmeshöhe
Cemetery near Bitburg, when former Luftwaffe ace Johannes
Steinhoff in an unscheduled act firmly shook his hand in an
act of reconciliation between the former foes.

Ridgway died at his home in the Pittsburgh suburb of Fox
Chapel at age 98 in March 1993 of cardiac arrest, holding
permanent rank of General in the United States Army. He is
buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and a street "Ridgway
Court" was named after him in Pittsburgh, the avenue
serves as the entrance to the Soldiers and Sailors National
Military Museum and Memorial located in the city's University
District.